Stakeholders Decry Senate’s Directive For NLNG To Pay N18.4bn To Communities

Stakeholders have decried the directive of the Senate to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to pay N18.4 billion to host communities for the Right of Way (RoW) it acquired in 1989 for N73 million.

This directive, the stakeholders saw as a threat to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and ease of doing business in the country.

The stakeholders at the Platforms Africa Forum 2022 in Lagos, said that Senate lacked the power to order NLNG to pay N18.4 billion

Partner, Bloomfield Law Practice, Dr Ayodele Oni, who spoke from Houston, Texas, and the Keynote speaker, Barrister Jide Ologun, unanimously declared that the Senate’s power guarantee by the constitution is enormous but this does not include giving an order to a company to pay the money within a stipulated time.

They pointed out that the Senate is not a court, maintaining that the right to order resides solely with the court.

“The 9th National Assembly has done well and set a standard for the 10th Parliament to surpass. But one area the forthcoming Assembly should refrain from is giving a directive to companies. The recent directive to NLNG to pay N18.4bn within eight weeks is not within the powers of the Senate.

“All lands belong to the government, and it was the government that gives them the land. In addition, it was confirmed that the NLNG paid N73 million in 1989, any other thing the NLNG is doing will only amount to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The directive for the company to pay will only mount a roadblock to the Foreign Direct Investment (FID),” Oni said.

Another analyst, Tajudeen Adigun, stated that Nigeria’s energy sector is suffering a dearth of FDI with many companies folding up due to legislation, he urged the 10th National Assembly to concentrate on making laws that will engender FID.

“The Senate has the constitutional oversight function but in discharging this role, it must always consider the ease of doing business.”

According to him, the communities must be protected while companies deserve protection to succeed.

“The NLNG is a company bounded by law and anyone enraged by the action or inaction of the company should approach a Court for redress. Well, they can write a petition to the NASS and the parliament to have the right to accept the petition and look into it. But only the court, not the NASS, has the right to make an order for a company to pay within a stipulated time. The bottom line is that the parliament should consider ease of doing business in discharging its legislative duties,” he said.

The Nigerian Senate had in September 2022, ordered the NLNG Limited to pay N18.4 billion on its acquired land for Right of Way (RoW) to 73 host communities and 200 families in Bonny, Rivers state, within two months.

The Senate, which had received a petition from the communities through its committee on ethics, privileges and public petitions, confirmed that the NLNG actually paid N73 million in 1989 when it acquired the land for its right of way (RoW). It, notwithstanding, issued a directive that the NLNG has just two months to pay up.

The NLNG, in a statement issued a day after the Senate’s directives, simply said it was evaluating the resolution and circumstances surrounding it.